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The clerk, Jose Torres, told police the suspect drove away from the 2519 W. Court St. station in a white van with a partial Washington license plate number of AEA720.

Torres also said the suspect took off after the clerk ran into the office and yelled that he was calling police.

The suspect's description included black leather gloves and a white mask.

About 25 minutes after the incident, Pasco police Sgt. Jamie Raebel spotted a white van with plate AEA7201 in the 200 block of South 24th Street. Several other officers arrived and surrounded the home.

Police ordered the suspect to exit the home by using a patrol car's public address system, court documents said. Tate -- who reportedly matched the physical and clothing descriptions given by the clerk -- walked out of the home seconds later and was detained.

The license plates on the van were discovered to have been stolen from another vehicle, and police found Tate was in the process of changing them to the legitimate plates, documents said.

Prosecutors allege that Tate admitted using a blue surgical mask, brown leather gloves and a handgun during the robbery.

He also told officers where to find the items, including a loaded Colt .32-caliber pistol that was in a cardboard box under a desk inside the house, court documents said.

The surgical mask was located in a trash can, documents said.

Tate's bail is set at $50,000. He is ordered to have no contact with Torres, 43, while the case is pending.

Man caught allegedly trying to steal TV flees

A 28-year-old man caught inside the garage of a Pasco home allegedly trying to steal a wall-mounted TV took off running when the resident pointed a weapon at him.

Matthew Thomas Mullen of Kennewick pleaded innocent to one count of residential burglary for the May 19 incident. His trial is scheduled July 18.

Pasco Officer Mike Nelson responded to an Oriole Lane home at 3 p.m. for a report of a man seen running through the backyard. The homeowner told Nelson it was not known why the man had been on the property.

A short time later, Nelson was dispatched to a nearby Tiger Lane home where a man reported finding someone in his garage attempting to take his TV, court documents said.

The resident told Nelson that the suspect ran away after he pointed a weapon at the burglar. The type of weapon used was not identified in documents.

Nelson got a description of the burglar from the victim, then found the suspect sitting on a porch in the 6200 block of Sandifur Parkway.

The suspect was identified as Mullen, and the victim and the backyard witness confirmed he was the person they had seen, court documents said. Mullen's clothing, as described by the homeowner, also was found inside the doorway of the porch where Nelson located him, documents said.